Lagos Booze Cruise

I don't even know where to begin and nor do I even know what to include in this type of post but  the events that unfolded that day must be shared in one way or another! For anyone going to Lagos, DO NOT leave until you have at least done the booze cruise. To begin it is a battle trying to work out which company has the best cruise. We booked through our hostel, that one was fully booked so they moved us to the Rising Cock Hostel's cruise then we met these guys from back home who were there for the summer and working at F n L, they managed to convince us that their cruise was the best as it had more alcohol, better games and less restrictions SOLD!!!

We went for a swim in the morning and had a hearty breakfast to line the stomach and by 1:30pm we had met the group for the day and headed to the boat. As expected it was 80% girls and 20% guys (yet 99% Australian) but before we had to even worry about whether this was to become a sleaze fest the 1% proved that there was nothing to worry about for us. There were 6 British girls onboard and within 20 minutes (thats pretty much as soon as we left the dock) they had their tops off, tits out and skulling as much booze and shots as possible. We had never seen anything like it and even the guys who were running it admitted that it was a little bit too hectic for their liking, even quoting "its fun to watch but not something you'd take home". So for the next hour we pretty much sat and became an audience for them to get completely shit faced and make fools of themselves. Their dignity was pretty much thrown overboard and if we thought they had any doubt about what they were doing we were soon reassured once in the toilet line. As the small talk goes in a line it usually consists of where your from, where you've/will travel and if you have time left a small discussion about the place your at now. For these girls it went:

"So where are you from?"
"London"
"Oh yeah, are you with the girls upstairs?"
"Yeah were the mad ones doing body shots for the boys"

Right. If only we were both using mad in the same context. But good for them, young wild and ummm...free? It is their holiday after all and they can do what they want, it certainly made our day a hell of a lot more entertaining. The best part was yet to come though. For those reading who do know us back home I'm sure you would all agree that Toma very rarely drinks to get drunk. Not on this day. Whilst in Lagos we discovered strawberry vodka, caramel vodka and black current vodka. All of which taste like cordial and were being poured into our mouths until we gave the signal. Next was the jagermister, then the sangria, the beer and then by that point whatever was in your hand as favourite choice. For Toma, it was like she had never seen alcohol before and went that extra (and possibly later the regrettable) step further and took a mouthful of absinthe. OUCH! As expected it wasn't long until she needed to lay down to 'stop the spinning'. Good thing Nat come to her rescue, laid down with her and started pretending to attack her in a photo shoot.

Natalie. She is the next one to explain. This girl was ON FIRE! Whilst these Brit's are busy doing body shots on top deck Nat was break dancing and running in circles like Homer Simpson screaming whooop woop woop! "Who's seen that episode?" hahaha absolute classic! We all docked jumped off the boat and the guys didn't even need to ask the Brits for their clothes as they did a gender bender jump because they were already nude. The octo-beer-bong got brought out and the old drinking rules (mine and right hand drinking) were played throughout the day.

By the time we got back to land EVERYONE was a mess including myself. We somehow managed to scramble all our belongings (including our camera yes!) and slowly make our way back to the bar. For Toma though, she could hardly walk and lucky we had Justin's big muscles and Rhiannon to help carry her home and with the help of the four of us roll her into bed. Somehow I ended up in bed too and by 11pm Rhiannon, Nat and Justin came back to get us. I couldn't believe I fell asleep too but up we got and ventured out for the rest of the night 'feeling refreshed'.

Definately a headache the next day so for the final time we extended our stay in Lagos but only for a recovery session as we wanted to leave it by going out on a bang.

Unfortunately I couldn't risk taking my camera on  board so was lucky enough to capture these shots on Nat's camera...enjoy!

Jinxed in Morocco

We were finally on our way to the airport and Toma expressed her excitement with "Thank god we are finally getting outta here!" and we had to stop here there and highlight the fact that we still had to get on the plane (we were flying with Ryan Air, need I say more?).

We were on perfect time scheduling to check in, grab a coffee and make our way to the gate. It wasn't until we got to the final part, customs, that Toma's words were about to be retracted. I had entered the country on my EU passport and was now trying to leave on my Australian. We were two people away to being served and I turned to Rhiannon and shared my discovery.... I didn't have my EU passport on me. It was my turn and I walked up to the guy at the desk, he typed a few things in then started flipping through my book... "Where is your entry stamp?" Time to act as though i just realised. "Oh I must have entered on my EU, I'm sorry I have completely forgot!" No hope! He put it plainly....your not leaving until i see your EU passport. With 45minutes until take off and my EU passport in my luggage which was probably already on the plane, I had to run as fast as I could all the way back to the check in desk and this is where the tears came down and I could hardly get a sentence out. The people at the desk were so nice as I ran up screaming "I NEED YOU TO HELP ME I NEED MY LUGGAGE NOW!" They calmed me down and were confused, telling me they didn't understand because I had my passport in my hand. After a few moments someone who could speak clear Englash assisted me and we were working on the clock to get a bag and make it back (both the bag and myself) to the plane before take off.

I was ushered into a small room and began to hysterically cry along the way as I realised that everyone was looking at me as though I had just been caught with drugs or something and had agreed to quietly go with the man without being arrested. With only 20 minutes until take off I finally got my bag and they yelled "yallah yallah, get your passport you must go or you will miss it"

I thanked them and took off as quick as I could, pushed in to every line possible yelling "My plane is about to leave!!" and thank goodness people were so nice yet i didn't really give them much choice as I was not going to the back of any line. I finally got back to the customs man and he made the quick amendment to my departure card before letting me through. Toma and Rhiannon were waiting for me with a sigh of relief on their faces. We managed to board the plane in time and cheers went around as we took off and waved goodbye to Morocco.


The moral of the story: Remember what passport you enter with and keep them together at the airport! Lesson learnt the hard way!

London Tea Party

Now just before we explained how well the British can throw a party. My Mum recently came over to see the family too and it just so happened that it correlated with her 51st birthday. She has a twin brother that lives over here and seeming as though they didn't quite get to spend their 50th together we decided to put that little extra effort into it. We had a lovely garden party in my Aunty and Uncle's house and just to throw in the good Aussie tradition they brought a BBQ for 'us Australian's' to take control of. As we all got excited for a rather large family reunion (more like getting ready for the ' the last time I saw you Holly you were this big') we were constantly checking the weather to ensure that we wouldn't all be ducking for cover the whole afternoon but for some reason, luck was on our side and it turned out to be an absolutely beautiful 'summery' day.

Australian BBQ's: Buy some meat such as steaks, sausages and kebabs, bread, condiments, alcohol, everyone comes over, catches up, has a laugh, gets drunk then it turns into fights or D & M's. Everyone loves them and they are an Australian tradition that I so dearly miss!

London 'BBQ': They decorate the place (again maybe the craziness of jubilee?) with British buntings, british cutlery, British cups and plates, British everything, buy lots of picky food (pork pies..yum!!) but don't think of your chips and dips like we do, no it is more like cold meats. Then lots of oven food, warm food. The alcohol is plentiful and we were introduced to Pimm's, the most delicious punch! They even hire a jazz band. We were amazed and all my Aunty could say was 'don't you guys do that?' Nope. We put on whoever's ipod wins the bet. Then comes the puddings, the most delicious puddings!!!


It was truly a spectacular day and I loved catching up with all my British family and friends. The boys handled the BBQ well, even teaching our cousins 'the art' of a perfect steak or sausage and everyone had a laugh and dance. It even hit the spot for my love of Aussie BBQ's.